The COVID-19 pandemic has provided researchers with a wealth of information on contemporary successes and failures in combating an emerging pathogen. This study outlines a total of 22 opportunities and strategies based on urban functionality and typology to help communities better prepare for and mitigate the effects of the next pandemic.

Frailty is a key predictor of mortality among patients with heart failure. The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), a quick bedside assessment, is increasingly used to screen for frailty and guide interventions. Yet, given its subjective nature, it has been unclear how closely CFS reflects objective measures of physical performance and cognitive function. Using nationwide data, researchers found that CFS aligns closely with objective tests and predicts 2-year mortality, supporting its use in everyday care.

Total hip replacement (THR) is becoming increasingly common, but postoperative femoral fractures remain a major problem. In a recent study, researchers from Japan compared two widely used femoral stem designs—a key component of hip prostheses—in a large cohort of patients who underwent THR. They found that collared, fully hydroxyapatite-coated stems significantly reduced early femoral fracture risk compared to flat-tapered wedge stems, offering valuable insights for improving patient safety and surgical outcomes in THR.

Bacteria uses multiple defense mechanisms to survive in the host body. Shigella bacteria, that causes colitis, disable multiple host defense pathways using three specialized effector proteins, as reported by researchers from Japan. They found that these effectors suppress inflammation, block apoptosis, and prevent necroptosis in human cells, allowing the pathogen to replicate. This study offers new insights that could help develop vaccines and targeted therapies to manage inflammatory colitis.

Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have found a way to generate mechanoluminescence in non-crystalline materials, bringing a new wave of potential applications in engineering, industrial safety and beyond. “Traditionally, chemists have thought crystal fracture an essential step in generating mechanoluminescence,” notes Dr Ayumu Karimata, first author of the study. “We have proved that’s not necessary. Our findings open up a vast array of possibilities in materials science, as they remove the need for complex crystal design and engineering when creating mechanoluminescent materials.” 

The collaborative research group led by Ehime University have synthesized a novel pyrrole-fused aza-nanographene that bends into a ladder-shaped structure due to its unique “gulf-edge” regions. The molecule shows remarkable oxidation-dependent electronic behavior: a diradical open-shell dication and a globally aromatic closed-shell tetracation. This finding reveals how molecular curvature and oxidation state govern electronic properties, paving the way for designing redox-active π-conjugated materials and organic molecular switches.

High-voltage cycling can quietly degrade LiCoO₂ cathodes, but a new low-dose nanoscale imaging method reveals the precise crystal transformations driving battery performance loss. By combining cepstral matching analysis with scanning nanobeam electron diffraction, researchers achieved nanometer-scale visualization with minimal beam damage. The study uncovered local structural changes at the cathode interface with the electrolyte, providing important clues to how batteries degrade and helping guide the design of longer-lasting, higher-energy lithium-ion batteries for future devices and electric vehicles.

Microbial proteins are attracting attention for their potential in biomanufacturing a variety of products, including pharmaceuticals, industrial enzymes, and diagnostic antibodies. These proteins can also be used for converting resources into biofuels and bioplastics. Producing proteins from Escherichia coli (E. coli) has become popular due to its cost-effectiveness and efficiency. However, yields of protein production in E. coli may be reduced depending on the specific gene sequence of the target protein. A research group in Japan has successfully developed a new technology that improves the efficiency of protein production in E. coli. Their findings could provide fundamental technology to support sustainable manufacturing that does not depend on petroleum.

Kyoto, Japan -- Forests have been benefitting humanity since long before the health benefits of forest bathing were discovered. They are major carbon sinks that provide a wide range of ecosystem services, including timber and non-timber forest products, recreation, and climate regulation.

Accurately assessing forest biomass is essential for understanding carbon storage and supporting sustainable forest management, but forests are vast three-dimensional structures and therefore difficult to study. Until recently, even measuring the height of a single tree was a challenging task, let alone understanding the size of its canopy. Conventional ground-based tree surveys are labor-intensive and often difficult to conduct in remote or steep terrain, limiting their use in large-scale assessments. This has also restricted researchers' ability to develop accurate biomass estimation formulae.

However, new drone-based technologies such as LiDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, are becoming increasingly accessible to researchers and have enabled more efficient measurement of tree structures and forest biomass. Emitting hundreds of thousands to millions of laser beams per second, LiDAR obtains three-dimensional information about the objects it scans.